Lincoln's Yarns and Stories [86]
like to speak of it.
"But why did he say so much about my mother, and my not causing her a sorrow or a tear, when I knew that I must die the next morning?
"But I supposed that was something that would have to go unexplained; and so I determined to brace up and tell him that I did not feel a bit guilty, and ask him wouldn't he fix it so that the firing party would not be from our regiment.
"That was going to be the hardest of all--to die by the hands of my comrades.
"Just as I was going to ask him this favor, he stood up, and he says to me:
"'My boy, stand up here and look me in the face.'
"I did as he bade me.
"'My boy,' he said, 'you are not going to be shot to-morrow. I believe you when you tell me that you could not keep awake.
"'I am going to trust you, and send you back to your regiment.
"'But I have been put to a good deal of trouble on your account.
"'I have had to come up here from Washington when I have got a great deal to do; and what I want to know is, how are you going to pay my bill?'
"There was a big lump in my throat; I could scarcely speak. I had expected to die, you see, and had kind of got used to thinking that way.
"To have it all changed in a minute! But I got it crowded down, and managed to say:
"'I am grateful, Mr. Lincoln! I hope I am as grateful as ever a man can be to you for saving my life.
"'But it comes upon me sudden and unexpected like. I didn't lay out for it at all; but there is some way to pay you, and I will find it after a little.
"'There is the bounty in the savings bank; I guess we could borrow some money on the mortgage of the farm.'
"'There was my pay was something, and if he would wait until pay-day I was sure the boys would help; so I thought we could make it up if it wasn't more than five or six hundred dollars.
"'But it is a great deal more than that,' he said.
"Then I said I didn't just see how, but I was sure I would find some way--if I lived.
"Then Mr. Lincoln put his hands on my shoulders, and looked into my face as if he was sorry, and said; "'My boy, my bill is a very large one. Your friends cannot pay it, nor your bounty, nor the farm, nor all your comrades!
"'There is only one man in all the world who can pay it, and his name is William Scott!
"'If from this day William Scott does his duty, so that, if I was there when he comes to die, he can look me in the face as he does now, and say, I have kept my promise, and I have done my duty as a soldier, then my debt will be paid.
"'Will you make that promise and try to keep it?"
The promise was given. Thenceforward there never was such a soldier as William Scott.
This is the record of the end. It was after one of the awful battles of the Peninsula. He was shot all to pieces. He said:
"Boys, I shall never see another battle. I supposed this would be my last. I haven't much to say.
"You all know what you can tell them at home about me.
"I have tried to do the right thing! If any of you ever have the chance I wish you would tell President Lincoln that I have never forgotten the kind words he said to me at the Chain Bridge; that I have tried to be a good soldier and true to the flag; that I should have paid my whole debt to him if I had lived; and that now, when I know that I am dying, I think of his kind face, and thank him again, because he gave me the chance to fall like a soldier in battle, and not like a coward, by the hands of my comrades."
What wonder that Secretary Stanton said, as he gazed upon the tall form and kindly face as he lay there, smitten down by the assassin's bullet, "There lies the most perfect ruler of men who ever lived."
SAVED A LIFE.
One day during the Black Hawk War a poor old Indian came into the camp with a paper of safe conduct from General Lewis Cass in his possession. The members of Lincoln's company were greatly exasperated by late Indian barbarities, among them the horrible murder of a number of women and children, and were about to kill him; they said the safe-conduct paper was a forgery, and approached the
"But why did he say so much about my mother, and my not causing her a sorrow or a tear, when I knew that I must die the next morning?
"But I supposed that was something that would have to go unexplained; and so I determined to brace up and tell him that I did not feel a bit guilty, and ask him wouldn't he fix it so that the firing party would not be from our regiment.
"That was going to be the hardest of all--to die by the hands of my comrades.
"Just as I was going to ask him this favor, he stood up, and he says to me:
"'My boy, stand up here and look me in the face.'
"I did as he bade me.
"'My boy,' he said, 'you are not going to be shot to-morrow. I believe you when you tell me that you could not keep awake.
"'I am going to trust you, and send you back to your regiment.
"'But I have been put to a good deal of trouble on your account.
"'I have had to come up here from Washington when I have got a great deal to do; and what I want to know is, how are you going to pay my bill?'
"There was a big lump in my throat; I could scarcely speak. I had expected to die, you see, and had kind of got used to thinking that way.
"To have it all changed in a minute! But I got it crowded down, and managed to say:
"'I am grateful, Mr. Lincoln! I hope I am as grateful as ever a man can be to you for saving my life.
"'But it comes upon me sudden and unexpected like. I didn't lay out for it at all; but there is some way to pay you, and I will find it after a little.
"'There is the bounty in the savings bank; I guess we could borrow some money on the mortgage of the farm.'
"'There was my pay was something, and if he would wait until pay-day I was sure the boys would help; so I thought we could make it up if it wasn't more than five or six hundred dollars.
"'But it is a great deal more than that,' he said.
"Then I said I didn't just see how, but I was sure I would find some way--if I lived.
"Then Mr. Lincoln put his hands on my shoulders, and looked into my face as if he was sorry, and said; "'My boy, my bill is a very large one. Your friends cannot pay it, nor your bounty, nor the farm, nor all your comrades!
"'There is only one man in all the world who can pay it, and his name is William Scott!
"'If from this day William Scott does his duty, so that, if I was there when he comes to die, he can look me in the face as he does now, and say, I have kept my promise, and I have done my duty as a soldier, then my debt will be paid.
"'Will you make that promise and try to keep it?"
The promise was given. Thenceforward there never was such a soldier as William Scott.
This is the record of the end. It was after one of the awful battles of the Peninsula. He was shot all to pieces. He said:
"Boys, I shall never see another battle. I supposed this would be my last. I haven't much to say.
"You all know what you can tell them at home about me.
"I have tried to do the right thing! If any of you ever have the chance I wish you would tell President Lincoln that I have never forgotten the kind words he said to me at the Chain Bridge; that I have tried to be a good soldier and true to the flag; that I should have paid my whole debt to him if I had lived; and that now, when I know that I am dying, I think of his kind face, and thank him again, because he gave me the chance to fall like a soldier in battle, and not like a coward, by the hands of my comrades."
What wonder that Secretary Stanton said, as he gazed upon the tall form and kindly face as he lay there, smitten down by the assassin's bullet, "There lies the most perfect ruler of men who ever lived."
SAVED A LIFE.
One day during the Black Hawk War a poor old Indian came into the camp with a paper of safe conduct from General Lewis Cass in his possession. The members of Lincoln's company were greatly exasperated by late Indian barbarities, among them the horrible murder of a number of women and children, and were about to kill him; they said the safe-conduct paper was a forgery, and approached the